Geneva – UN: More than 184,000 people displaced by the conflict in Yemen since August

GENEVA, 6 October /ATSH-DPA/ – Fighting between Houthi rebels and the military forces backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government has caused a rise in the number of people fleeing their homes.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said today that more than 184,000 people have been forced to leave their homes since the beginning of August.

The UN-linked agency warned that the number of displaced people could rise further in the coming days, because of the unstable situation and the fighting.

“As the conflict escalates, more and more people are facing a horrific cycle of displacement, living in fear for their lives and not knowing what the future will bring,” said the IOM’s director general, Amy Pope.

The fighting has been concentrated mainly around the port cities of Dhubab and Mocha, and around Taiz, the capital of the province of the same name, in southwestern Yemen.

The Yemeni government is backed militarily by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi rebels, on the other hand, are allies of Iran. According to military observers, the Houthi rebels continue to control the strategic port city of Mocha.

Mocha is located near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. This is a very important sea strait, only 27 kilometres wide, through which an important part of maritime transport between Europe and Asia passes.

Oil and liquefied gas from the Arab Gulf countries also pass through this area.

The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia announced that it had destroyed a command post from which ballistic missiles were launched in the capital Sanaa.

It also said it had destroyed a facility where missiles were stored, located in a mountain complex in Saada province, in northwestern Yemen.

According to the coalition, 20 ballistic missiles had been stored at that facility.

The military operation, launched on Sunday by the forces backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government, aims at the full retaking of all the territories currently controlled by the Houthi rebels.